A Healing Poison
by IfOnlyI'dThoughtofSomethingCharmingtoSay
Summary: Spike and Buffy are attacked by a demon who exposes them to a poison that while destroying them, allows the to feel the others emotions. Will this tie finally allow them see what is right in front of them before it is too late? Spuffy
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: None of the characters (Buffy, Spike, the Scoobies, etc.) belong to me, but it's fun to pretend.

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The night air whisked around Buffy's bare shoulders as she traipsed through the cemetery. The thunder in the distance grew closer with every rumble and silently, Buffy smiled to herself as she thought of the preeminent storm.

"Look's like a storms brewin'," a voice drawled from the darkness.

Buffy turned on her heel, closing her eyes to allow her slayer senses to focus. She had been so wrapped up in the bliss of the distant memory, that she had closed her mind to the vamp alerts that had been going up in her mind. Her eyes snapped open as she sensed the vampire's presence a distance behind her.

"It's you," she said, and then, pausing for effect, added, "Again. Don't you have anything better to do?"

The bleached blond male stepped into what little visibility there was in the cemetery, his strong cheekbones accentuated as the lighting flickered around them. "Better than following you around, goldilocks?" He flicked open the lighter, he had been fiddling with in his left hand and lit the virgin cigarette dangling out of his mouth. After taking a slow, sensuous drag, all the while his eyes glued on hers, he stepped closer to her. "I don't think so," he said, blowing the remainder of the smoke towards her.

Buffy wrinkled her nose at the vile habit.

"Dead or not," Spike continued, "Any man has to agree that watching you walk is quiet a pleasurable experience, pet. I mean, doesn't compare to what it would be like to sink my fangs into someone of the likes of you," he morphed into his vamp face while speaking," but still, it comes close."

"Your disgusting," she sneered.

Back in human face he ran his tough over his teeth. "Vampire, luv. It's my prerogative." Buffy sidestepped around him in an attempt to continue patrolling, but Spike moved in front of her once again. "Woah, hold on there, pet. I haven't finished with you."

"Oh, please, Spike," she whined, "I take your threats about as serious as I take Xander's propositions to fight me. You have about as much bite as, well, uhh…" pausing to consider an insult worth hurling at him, Buffy was suddenly blindsided from the left and thrown into a tree.

Seconds later Spike came crashing down next to her, but she had hoisted herself off the ground without even paying heed to that fact. A demon with a warped face and twisted features was advancing towards her at an alarmingly fast rate. Buffy threw a punch and landed it square in his jaw. The demon's reflexes were fast though, swiping at her with gnarled yellow fingernails. Buffy sprung back out of it's reach, backing into a now standing Spike with such force that they were both thrown on the ground again.

"Sodding bint," Spike grumbled. "What the hell'd you do that for?" He pushed her off of him with his big black combat boot, and stood up, brushing dirt off his duster. .

"Hey, if you hadn't been standing there like some idiot, maybe I wouldn't have fallen into you to begin with." Buffy scowled, so infuriated at the platinum vamp that she did not yell out to him as the demon crept up behind him unknowingly.

Spike was too busy wrestling with his inner demon trying to satiate the need that rose up inside him to just do away with Buffy right then. The demon grabbed Spike by the throat and threw him again, this time, right into the wall of a crypt. Buffy had now leapt to her feet, but as she did so, the demon outstretched its arm and swiped at her stomach, breaking the skin painfully, coloring the bottom of her white tank top crimson.

Making a small noise of pain, Buffy stumbled backwards, a little taken back by the sudden injury. The gap between the creature and Buffy was quickly closing and her stomach was in excruciating pain as a toxin slowly spread into her system.

Just as Buffy was about to muster up strength to kick the demon away, hands had wrapped themselves around the sides of it's neck and quickly pulled to the side, snapping it. In a futile act of defense, the creature had thrown its arm back to fend of the attacker, catching on the side of his neck and dragging the yellow enameled fingernails down the skin.

Dropping the monster into a heap, Spike stepped back, bringing his hand to his now bleeding neck. "Shit," he muttered. He looked over at Buffy who had decided to rest against the wall of the crypt he himself had been thrown up against.

She was looking at him curiously, still clutching her abdomen, her green eyes clearly reflecting a look of pain. Spike however, did not hold the same look of pain and treated the deep gashes as if they were minor cuts.

An unwonted look of concern flashed across his face and he stepped forward, "Are you alright, luv?" he asked.

Blinking, Buffy looked up at him, stepping away from her crutch. "Yeah, fine. Just not up to the usual tonight," she lied. "Are you…not hurting?"

"It doesn't really feel like much of anything. Jus' a lil' nick, is all."

"Oh," she breathed, wondering why she felt the way she did while Spike felt nothing at all. She turned to walk back to the house and felt Spike's eyes on her as she went. "And don't you dare look at my ass," she warned.

"Wasn't even thinkin' of it," Spike replied. When Buffy finally was out of sight, he rubbed his neck with his hand. A searing pain was taking over the area, and Spike began to stumble as he was brought in and out of consciousness. Before collapsing against a grave marker, he groaned, "Bloody hell."

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A/N: Please review. This is my first fanfic so any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks.


	2. Chapter 2

When Buffy opened the door to her house she was out of breath and not because of overexertion. She had been fighting to stay awake, as she had been on the verge of drifting in and out of consciousness. Once inside the stronghold of her home, she let herself fall to the floor in fatigue.

"Buffy? Is that you?" Dawn called from the kitchen, her voice muffled from the walls it was going through.

Buffy heard her sister calling but couldn't find it in her to yell back. "Is Buffy back?" she heard Tara's quiet voice ask. Then, before she finally let go of the threads of consciousness, she heard the scraping sounds of their chairs as they left the kitchen to look for her.

"Oh my God, Buffy!" Willow cried as she saw the heap on the floor that was her friend.

"Buffy!" This cry was even louder as Dawn looked at the blood stained shirt, she as wearing.

Willow and Dawn, frantic, knelt down beside their friend and sister trying to look for some sign to relieve them of the terrible worry they were feeling. Tara, the voice of reason in this mess, finally spoke, saying, "We should probably get her upstairs, and, maybe someone who doesn't mind blood could clean up that wound."

"Right," the two other girls agreed in unison, as if that plan had been formulating in their minds all along. Between the three of them, they carried Buffy upstairs to her room without too much trouble and cleaned the deep cuts on her middle.

"So, what do we think did this?" Dawn asked, almost afraid of the answer.

Willow shook her head softly, her red locks falling from behind her ears to the front of her face. "I have no idea. But I don't think it's just a flesh wound. She survived when she was staked and I'm sure she lost more blood than this, but she is totally out of it. I'm thinking there is something else. Who knows what did this and what else could result from it. I think we should go on reconnaissance, maybe see if there is some kind of clue in the cemetery."

"I agree!" Dawn said, enthusiastic to be included in something.

Tara gave a weak smile. "I think perhaps you should stay here, Dawnie. We don't want whatever it was to get you too."

A grumble escaped Dawn's lips but she submitted to her two older friends and allowed herself to be contented with staying to watch Buffy.

Giving Dawn a quick kiss on the forehead, Willow and Tara left the room quickly and within moments, had vacated the house.

The sky was getting darker by the moment, even for night and the ever present thunder and lightning kept reminding the witches that their scout of the cemetery better be quick.

After nearly circling the cemetery once, the first drops of rain were felt and Tara looked at Willow with a sense of sympathy. "It was a good idea," she consoled. "Let's go." She draped a protective arm over her girlfriends shoulder as the cut across the grassy area full of gravestones.

"Oh my God," Willow said, her eyes falling upon a crumpled Spike whose bloody neck was being cleaned by the rain, revealing cuts not unlike Buffy's. "I'm not one to claim excellent deductive skills, but I'd say the two of them had a run in with the same beastie."

"I'd say you were right," Tara concurred. She knelt forward and examined the unconscious Spike. "Do we just leave him and wish him the best?"

"No. It's going to be daylight in four hours. If he doesn't wake up by then, he's screwed. And not that I'm part of the Spike fan club or know anything about him, I've got to say, I don't think he'd like to go out because the sun rose while he was sleeping."

"Let's just drag him to his crypt," Tara suggested. She walked over to the stone building she knew to be his and tried to move the door. It would not budge. "Damn vampires," she muttered, "What do they think they need to protect?"

"I guess we'll have to drag him back to the house, then," Willow said. "We could carry him, with the help of just a tiny spell," Willow pleaded.

"No," Tara stated firmly. "No magic. Besides, it's Spike. We can't possibly do him that much damage. Buffy's house is only a ten minute walk. I'll grab one arm, you grab the other."

Hands firmly clasped upon Spike's wrists, the two girls began the long pull home. "Not to make a pun," Willow panted after a couple minutes, "But this is dead weight."

"I agree." They dragged Spike over yet another rock on the sidewalk, causing his black lighter to fall out of his pocket and into the side of the road. "Should we get that?"

"No," Willow told her, "It's a bad habit anyway."

Finally, after a good ten minutes more than it normally took them to get back from the cemetery, the odd threesome crossed into the threshold of the Summer's house. Dawn appeared at the top of the stairs, looking down at Spike who lay prone on the floor.

"Did he…?"she started. She looked at his neck. "Will he be alright? His wounds are a lot deeper than Buffy's?"

Dawn leaned over Spike, surprised when his eyes snapped open. "Hey, niblet," he said, his words coming out throaty. His arms clung to his abdomen as he doubled over in pain. "Oh, bollucks," he cursed. "Damn stomach. It's hurts like hell."

"What about your neck?" Willow asked. "That doesn't look too friendly, either."

"Nah, don't feel a thing. But you shouldn't be worried 'bout me. Buffy needs an extra pillow 'cause she's got shooting pains up her neck." As soon as the words left his mouth, all three girls shot curious glances at him but the look on his face was even more confused. "Where the hell did that come from?"

A/N: Hey, sorry about the lack of chapters and content but I picked a really crappy time to post this story. I was planning on posting a story tonight (and will still try, I promise) but I have unthinkable amounts of homework. Thanks for all the nice reviews, 5 is more than I ever expected for my first story. Keep reading and reviewing! I will update as soon as possible Thanks. -Christina


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